Copyright 1994, Malcolm Kirk, Thornbury, Ontario.

Malcolm (Mac) Kirk was one of Canada’s great conservationists. He was a natural heritage champion who generously shared his wisdom and expertise with anyone interested in protecting and enhancing Ontario’s natural environment. Mac was also an avid photographer, constantly documenting his many decades of professional field work in Grey and Bruce Counties, Ontario.

Mac had an abiding interest in the preservation of the Niagara Escarpment and in particular, land trust and donation acquisitions of key properties on the Bruce Peninsula, in the Beaver Valley, and in other places along the Niagara Escarpment.

Mac supported the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act of 1973 and relentlessly advocated for the approval of the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) in 1985 – Canada’s first large-scale environmental land use plan.

In preparing the first NEP in the 1970s, the Niagara Escarpment Commission decided to include a parks and open space system as a way to ensure the long-term preservation of areas considered to be the most natural parts of the Escarpment and to provide for compatible recreation and public access opportunities. Such areas were meant to be publicly owned in perpetuity or held by conservation agencies like the Bruce Trail Conservancy. Many of the selected areas were those identified by Mac Kirk and his Ministry of Natural Resources colleague Ted Wilson and these areas became an essential part of the NEP approved by the Ontario Cabinet in 1985.

Mac’s life was dedicated to protecting uninterrupted, continuous natural corridors for migration and movement of wildlife.

After countless hikes and field trips with Mac along the Niagara Escarpment, he taught me a cardinal, guiding principle: “Stand up and stand your ground, fight to connect, defend, expand and enhance continuous natural corridors as if your life depended upon it.”

In 1994, Mac delivered this 30-minute presentation, illustrated with his photos, at the Annual Meeting of the Beaver Valley Heritage Society.

Thirty-one years ago, I asked the late Don Alexander, a former member of the Niagara Escarpment Foundation, to video-record Mac’s entire presentation. As part of our celebration in 2025 of the 40th Anniversary of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, designated by UNESCO as a World Biosphere in 1990 and part of Ontario’s Greenbelt, please enjoy and share the digital reproduction “Along the Niagara Escarpment in Bruce and Grey Counties.”

I am sure that Mac and Don are smiling! We live their legacy and proudly stand on their shoulders. Let all of us carry on their important work for future generations.

Rob Leverty
President
Niagara Escarpment Foundation